Against great odds, black New Yorkers joined with blacks in other cities and with white allies to launch a campaign for equality in the North and for freedom in the South. A generation of powerful black New Yorkers challenged the city's pro-slavery, pro-southern regime and sought black autonomy in many arenas (See Gallery 3.)

Virtually inventing advocacy politics, abolitionists searched for strategies that would shake the nation's deep acceptance of the institution of slavery. (See Gallery 4.)